


gonna give him a heart attack

by Meynara



Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Angst with a Happy Ending, Gay Disaster Shiro (Voltron), Hunk (Voltron) is a Good Friend, Hurt Keith (Voltron), I tried to tag for all the things, Leader Matt Holt, M/M, Matt Holt is a Badass, Multi, Prisoner Keith (Voltron), Protective Shiro (Voltron), Shiro Birthday Exchange 2019, and deserves none of this, gratuitous NPC death
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-03-08
Updated: 2019-03-08
Packaged: 2019-11-13 17:00:44
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,450
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18035576
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Meynara/pseuds/Meynara
Summary: When a mission for the Blades of Marmora goes wrong, Keith is taken as a prisoner. It takes time to find him, and by the time they do, Shiro is a mess.Thankfully, Matt and Shiro's team are there to help.





	gonna give him a heart attack

**Author's Note:**

  * For [UkieS](https://archiveofourown.org/users/UkieS/gifts).



The bridge of the Atlas was unusually tense as Shiro watched the screen in front of him, lips pulled down into a fierce looking scowl. Both hands, organic and mechanical, were balled into fists resting behind his back as he swayed slightly back and forth on his feet, as if unable to keep himself still. The crew, likewise, was silent and stern, moreso than usual as they went about their tasks, all working towards one singular goal.

If Shiro could bring himself to think about it, it would be somewhat ironic that he was in that position again, with everyone working together with like minds, but he was hurting, in agony as he waited for something to change, something to turn up results.

Minutes passed, seemingly turning to hours, to days even within his mind before the silence was broken by thudding feet rushing onto the bridge, chest heaving and out of breath as Matt Holt stood just on the bridge.

“Sh--Captain. We found them. We found _him_.”

Almost immediately, he launched into action. “Commander Holt, give the coordinates to Lieutenant Esparza at the helm. Lieutenant Andros, inform the crew. We’re going after Leader Keith. Commander Iverson, prepare for battle.”

Matt crossed the bridge, still breathing heavily even as he leaned down to give Veronica the coordinates. Shiro noted absently in the part of his mind that wasn’t driven to retrieve one of his significant others, just how well Matt seemed to be handling things despite looking utterly exhausted. The thought didn’t linger, however, trusting Matt to do what he needed to do.

Instead, his eyes moved over to where Curtis sat at communications, seeming to do nothing, staring intently at the console before him.

“Lieutenant Andros? Inform the crew.” Shiro’s voice was firm as he watched the other man -- not unnecessarily so, but trying to ensure that Curtis heard him.

It was quickly apparent that hearing wasn’t the issue when Curtis sat up straight, turning his gaze to look directly at Shiro. “Sir, with all due respect, I think you are emotionally compromised.”

The frown on Shiro’s face deepened, brows furrowing. “Lieutenant, you aren’t the one to make that call. The Blade of Marmora are our allies. Even if my personal relationship was nonexistent, we would be taking the same course of action.”

There was a brief moment of quiet, everyone still on the bridge, tasks completed, before Curtis stood up. “I would like to formally object to this course of action, sir.”

“Objection noted. You are hereby relieved of duty for the day, Lieutenant Andros. Paladin Holt, please man the comms. Alert the crew of the situation.” Shiro absently noted the silence growing more strained before there was movement on the bridge -- Curtis was moving away to allow Pidge to take his position, his eyes boring into Shiro before turning and curtly exiting.

Slowly, the activity level on the bridge picked up, but Shiro didn’t notice -- not with how focused he was, crossing to stand behind Matt and Veronica, watching as the course was plotted and they moved to where their teammate was being held. Eyes narrowed seeing the system they were headed towards. “The Laterus system?” There was a heavy dose of worry beneath those few words as Shiro looked up and over at Matt. “They’ve chosen to hunker down _there_ , of all places?”

Laterus IV, the only inhabitable planet in the Laterus system, was a cold and frigid planet, only just managing to be warm enough to sustain life. The planet’s natives were large and covered in layers of fur and fat, their legs and arms small in proportion to their overall size. While they weren’t hostile, they were wary of anyone not from their planet. Galra, due to their varying sizes, could likely blend in enough to deflect that wariness.

Humans, on the other hand…

Shiro let out a sigh. “Paladin Holt, notify Paladin Garrett that he needs to prepare to go planetside, along with myself and Commander Holt. The bridge is yours, Paladin Holt. Commander Holt, with me.” Pivoting on his heel, he moved to exit the bridge, Matt on his heels as the bridge became more lively.

“Not to question your judgement, Shiro,” Matt spoke once they were off the bridge, long strides easily keeping up with the other man, “but wouldn’t we do better with Pidge coming with us? Hunk isn’t stealthy, to put it lightly.”

“No, he’s not -- but we’re both already worried,” Shiro spoke, voice blunt as he led Matt into his quarters.

When Matt was onboard, he stayed there as well, but there wasn’t much in the way of visuals that this was true. The room was decorated with things from Shiro’s travels, interesting trinkets Keith had found interspersed among them, but the one thing that showed Matt belonged there just as much as anyone else was a pair of framed photographs. One showed the three just before the launch of the Kerberos mission, where Shiro and Matt both looked cheerful -- but Keith looked sullen, petulant even with a scowl on his face, eyes cast up to look towards Shiro as if he hung the moon.

The second photo looked similar in that Shiro stood in between Matt and Keith, but there the similarities end. Shiro stood in his uniform with black shoulders, Keith in his Paladin armor -- fresh from some fight given the scuffs and ruffled hair -- and Matt in his ragtag rebel attire. All three looked relaxed and relieved (with a hint of shyness on Matt’s part), showing how new the relationship between the three of them was.

Matt’s gaze remained on that second photograph until there was a thick coat tossed in his direction, smacking him in the face. “Matt, **focus** . This is why I didn’t want Pidge on the mission. We’re _both_ worried about Keith as it is. Having Pidge with us would magnify that worry for you.” Shiro’s expression softened as he moved to stand beside Matt, organic arm reaching around Matt’s waist and pulling him close. “On top of that? We want to try to blend in as much as we can. Pidge would be mistaken for a child given how small she is compared to the natives. We’ll have her helping from the bridge, she’ll help direct us as needed, and she and Lance can be ready at a moment’s notice, along with the MFE pilots, to come to our aid. Hunk is strong, and he blends in better than we do. Everything will be fine. We’ll bring him home, okay?”

A snort comes from Matt as he looks up at Shiro, arms gently moving to wrap around his waist in return, hugging him gently. “You must be really worried to be reassuring me like this. I know he’ll be fine. We’ll be fine. None of us will allow it to be otherwise. Sorry, I just, got distracted a moment, let me go get my backups and I’ll be ready. You sure you want to go down there, though?”

The question was asked without any thought -- and the answer that came from Shiro was just as reflexive, nodding quickly as he tucked a blaster away in the band of his pants, beneath his coat. “Of course. It’s Keith. I couldn’t prevent myself from going anymore than I could if it was _you_ there. As it is, I’m trying to show restraint but I -- I can’t just not go, not when I can do something. I’m not the man I once was, I’m not as fast or as nimble as I used to be, but I’m still capable of going out in the field.”

Silence fell between the two as Matt carefully stowed a spare blaster in the band of his own pants, below where his staff was holstered before putting the bulky coat on over it, pulling the hood up over his head. “I’ve never doubted that, Shiro. Just because you’re in command and don’t go into the field as often, and stick to diplomacy, doesn’t mean you’re not capable. I’m just…” He trailed off, biting down on his lip before looking at Shiro once more. “I’m worried that you’ll focus too much on _Keith_ and forget to look out for yourself. We can’t save him if we don’t watch out for _ourselves_. That’s all.”

Matt wanted to say more, wanted to reassure himself as much as anything else, but they were interrupted by the intercom cracking, Hunk’s voice coming over it. “Hey, guys? If we’re gonna go down, we need to get going. There’s a storm coming in and we want to get in and out before Yellow turns into a snow lion.”

Turning away from Matt to head for the door, Shiro nodded. “We’re on our way, Hunk. See you shortly.”

Taking a deep breath, there was a long moment before Matt followed, hoping the feeling he got in his gut was wrong.

* * *

 

Arriving on the surface of Laterus IV wasn’t difficult, despite Hunk’s worries to the contrary. In fact, it seemed almost too easy, like the calm before the storm. (“I mean, it literally **is** the calm before the storm, so if we can hurry up? I’m sure Keith would appreciate it,” Hunk’d mentioned as they stepped out of Yellow’s maw and moved towards the small town populated by the ‘giant gerbils’, also what he’d called the locals.) They had moved as quickly as they could, following the directions between Matt’s knowledge of the area and Pidge’s communications via the ear pieces they each wore.

Hunk’s presence managed to keep the natives from looking too closely at them -- he wasn’t as large as they were, but was close enough that they didn’t think twice, leaving the recovery team relatively undisturbed until they made it to the building that the Flames of Purification had taken for their own. It looked rundown on the outside, but the fact that they couldn’t just walk in quickly proved that appearances were deceiving.

While not on the scale of his sister, Matt was quick to get into the programming holding the door shut, letting them in just as the wind began picking up. The three men pulled the hoods back from over their heads, looking around quickly to discover that the room they’d entered into was just as empty as the street immediately outside. Looking meaningfully at Hunk with a nod, Matt moved to take point, hand reaching back to pull out the small blaster, quickly ensuring the room was as clear as it could be before they moved on.

The next room was likewise empty of people, but what it lacked in people, it made up for with stairs -- stairs descending down below ground instead of moving upward. Looking back, Matt saw Shiro, then Hunk following, Shiro with both hands currently empty and Hunk carrying his bayard. Thus he didn’t even hesitate before descending the stairs.

The temperature actually felt warmer as they moved downward, the ground keeping the air warm as they saw a long wall with multiple doors along it -- the basement was much larger than the building above, which was in keeping both with what the enemy would want and with what the natives of the planet would have, structurally speaking. That didn’t make things much better, but at least nothing unusual stuck out just yet short of the lack of furniture above.

“Alright, start clearing rooms. We stay long enough to find Keith, then we get out of here,” Shiro kept his voice low, looking from Matt to Hunk, waiting long enough for confirmation before they started moving down the hall, each one stopping at a door -- each having their own ways to clear a room alone. And at first, it seemed like it was going to be relatively calm, maybe even uneventful. The first couple of doors held nothing behind them, even with Matt and Hunk respectively stepping in and looking into each and every corner quickly to make sure no one was there.

Shiro was both less and more lucky than the other two, however. He found Keith behind the door he opened, and almost immediately he was running forward towards him, heedless of the rest of the occupants of the room, most of whom seem to pause at Shiro’s entrance even as his momentum picks up, not stopping until something hot hit him in the arm, burning through layers of clothing and burning the skin beneath.

“Shiro!” Keith’s voice was rough as he struggled against the binds holding him to the table -- his movements sluggish, but determined. As Matt entered the room and saw the pair, he didn’t immediately recognize Keith, though it surely was him the way he was trying to get free, trying to get to Shiro, who was clutching at his arm. “Don’t hurt him, don’t you _dare_ hurt him!” His voice gained a growling quality, something that matched his appearance. When last Keith had been seen, after all, he’d been wearing his Marmora uniform, still the man that had returned to Earth months ago. But now, now he looked positively feral, fangs gleaming in his mouth, fur along his face and neck and instead of typical humanoid ears, he now had a pair of triangular ears atop his head, currently flattened as he growled his displeasure.

It didn’t take a genius to put two and two together and realize the vaguely cat-like man being restrained was Keith. Both men looked at one another before Hunk was opening fire, not even waiting to see what Shiro would say or do, making certain that no friendlies were in the way as he did so, screams filling the air as Matt ran to Shiro, pulling him what little distance there was left between them and Keith, blaster held up and pulling the trigger in the face of the druid looking individual nearest the table, the body hitting the floor quickly.

“Shiro, keep pressure on your arm, keep an eye out, let me know if anyone’s coming this way,” Matt let authority bleed into his voice quickly, tongue feeling thick in his mouth as he put his blaster back where it’d been before, hands moving to pull at the restraints, feeling for where the mechanisms would be for him to set their boyfriend free. “Keith, talk to me, what happened. Our reports only indicated that you were gone. We found Kosmo, but…”

Keith’s eyes -- which retained their normal color, if now with a slit in the middle rather than the rounder iris they were used to -- were locked on Shiro as he spoke, growling still in his voice as more Galra came into the room. (Hunk needed no help to take them down -- they were walking in to their own doom with the bottleneck formed in the doorway, the slowly growing pile of bodies showing just how far into the room they could make it unhindered. (Not far.)) “They were working with the remnants of the Fires of Purification -- the Eijwah. There were plans to ransom me off, but they wanted to wait for something. I don’t know what, just they wanted to wait and were more than happy to let what druids they had among them ‘play’ with me. You can see as well as I can what that did.”

Matt made a noncommittal sound even as they all heard Hunk’s bayard fire again, another thud hitting the floor. “Katie, we’re gonna need medical on standby. Shiro’s been shot and Keith’s been experimented on. We could also use some backup just in case. Hunk’s got the room covered but God only knows what’ll happen when they stop trying to use the door. I’m not certain of the structural security if they try to break down the wall.”

“I’d like to see them try,” Hunk snorted, moving closer to the three as Matt got what remained of the heavy restraints off of Keith. “They’d be hurting themselves as much as us if they went for that, that’s probably what’s gotten us such good luck so far. You gonna be able to carry him, Matt?”

Keith growled, swinging his legs over the side. “I can walk and talk for myself, you know.” There’s a moment of hesitation before he’s sliding himself off the table, his feet brushing against the floor. “We need to get out of here, Shiro’s hurt, and you two nee--” As he moved to take a step forward, his legs crumpled from beneath him, hands reaching out to grab at Matt to keep himself steady, to keep from completely falling to the floor.

“I’ve got him,” Matt reached back to pull his blaster out once more, holding it out to Keith, waiting for him to take it before crouching down to bodily lift Keith up. “You keep an eye out for enemies, Hunk clear the hallway then follow up the rear. Shiro, we’re moving.”

Between Keith’s current condition and the unexpectedness of seeing Matt taking command despite knowing that he has the ability, Shiro’s brain was not working at full. He had to blink a couple of times, looking at Keith for a long moment before nodding. “You two out after Hunk’s secured the hall. I’ll be right behind you.” He kept his floating hand pressed against his arm, keeping pressure so that his arm couldn’t bleed out as they carefully stepped around and over the bodies in the floor.

“Yeah, I think we got it, Shiro,” Hunk’s voice was slightly distracted, not even looking back at the other three before stepping out the door, almost immediately opening fire in the hallway as more Galra approached, clearing the doorway for Matt, Keith, and Shiro to come out, Keith looking over Matt’s shoulder with the blaster poised and ready to fire if needed.

Shiro’s gaze couldn’t move off of Keith, however, watching him more than where he was going -- which, thankfully, wasn’t too much of an issue given the way out was clear -- his attention hyperfocused on the fact that they had Keith, that Matt was there, that they were all there and relatively safe but Keith was hurt, _he_ was hurt himself, and they didn’t have anything immediately handy to fix that.

Climbing the stairs, Shiro finally looked back to make sure Hunk was following, given they needed him to get into Yellow, and he was there right behind them. The number of Galra following them seemed a bit unrealistic if Shiro were to be asked later, but everything seemed to be bigger in that moment, larger, harder.

He just wanted to be back on the Atlas, with Keith and Matt safe and sound.

Moving quickly to get in front of his lovers, Shiro went to open the door, certain there would be nothing out there, nothing and no one, wanting to make it easier for Matt and Keith to get out and to the Lion waiting for them. Instead, the wind had picked up and it was near impossible to see through all the snow whipping around.

“Hunk--”

“On it!” Shiro didn’t even have to finish the thought before Hunk was putting his back against the inside wall, closing his eyes for a moment before the four could hear a roar, followed by a rumble on the ground. The rumbling stopped for a moment before they felt it again -- the wind cutting off as metal paws quickly landed on the ground in front of the building, head lowering and maw opening to give them access.

Matt was moving with Keith without any prompting, going out into the snow and getting in as quickly as they could, Shiro pausing only long enough to tap on Hunk’s shoulder before following, Hunk bringing up the rear once more until they were all inside.

They were safe. They were headed _home_.

* * *

 

Command personnel were the **worst** patients. It was clear the Garrison doctor that was treating Shiro’s arm was thinking it very, _very_ loudly, even if she wasn’t saying it. Matt could read it in her movements, her gaze sharp as she tried to keep from leaving Shiro unattended.

“Damn fools leaping out of bed mid battle, running off without treatment, getting distracted when they shouldn’t be doing field work in the first place,” she grumbled to herself, finally turning away, giving Matt a look as she dug around in the drawer, looking for something.

Shiro, for the most part, didn’t seem to notice what the doctor was doing, instead focusing on the open door that he wanted -- needed -- to run out of, to go to Keith, but Matt moved forward and blocked his view of it. Making a face, Shiro looked down at Matt. “What are you--”

“I’m making sure you stay put long enough for Dr. Debbel to finish her examination, make sure you didn’t hurt anything else while we were out there.” Matt sighs, carefully wrapping an arm around Shiro’s back, moving to the side where Shiro’s floating arm rested so the doctor could return to what she was doing when she had gathered her supplies. “Keith is fine, he is safe, and once we’ve gotten you wrapped up, we’re gonna go join him. They’re just taking precautions, looking over what he looks like now, seeing if anything needs to be done. Everything is fine.”

Taking in a shaking breath, Shiro shook his head. “But everything isn’t fine. I fucked up, Matt. I -- I put you and Hunk in danger just because Keith was there. Because Keith was, like, not safe but? He was still there! And I -- maybe I shouldn’t go in the field anymore. Maybe I **should** be left to doing administrative tasks instead of something more active.”

Before Shiro could say anything more, he felt a not-so-light smack against his thigh, looking over to find the doctor had returned to messing with his arm. “If you truly believe that, then you need to make yourself available to the counselors on board, Captain. Taking one hit because you see one of the men you love in front of you doesn’t mean that you’re ready to be pulled from action just yet. Granted, you shouldn’t be going into the field but that’s regulation, that’s not because you’re actually incompetent.”

The two men looked at one another as she dabbed at the wound, cleansing it while Shiro was distracted and quickly covering it with gauze, then bandage. “...that’s not a bad point, though,” Matt admitted. “After this, we probably all could use it. Just...to be certain.”

“Make your appointments after seeing your man. Go, get out of my hair,” she moved, gently ushering the pair off of the bed. “You know the drill by now, Shirogane. Increased pain, heat, or bad odors, come and see one of us so we can make sure you don’t end up losing another arm.”

“I’ll make sure he does, ma’am, thank you.” Matt gave the doctor a small smile while ushering Shiro out the door and down the hall. “And you will listen, right?”

Giving a small smile, Shiro nodded at Matt. “Mm, of course. Are we -- is--”

“We’re going to see Keith, once you’re, y’know, not looking as if you’re going to cry all over him,” Matt teased, arm still wrapped around Shiro’s waist, walking beside him. “I think he’ll be happy to see us, but happier if we’re not blaming ourselves for what happened, yeah?”

“Yeah...yeah.” Shiro took a deep breath, using his organic hand to carefully wipe at his eyes, looking ahead. “I get it. Let’s go join him. We need to welcome him home.”

It took them a few minutes to get down the hallway to where Keith was being kept -- a private room in the medical section of the Atlas, where he could be comfortable, but they could keep an eye on his vitals for the time being. Another of the medical personnel on board the ship was exiting the room as Shiro and Matt entered, giving the pair a look before wordlessly moving on.

Looking up at the pair, Keith looked better than he had when they took him to Yellow. He’d cleaned himself off, his fur (fur!) fluffed out a bit and hair brushed out, changed into more comfortable clothing, but also attached to machines on either side of him so he was unable to do much to welcome them aside from smile. “Well, I was starting to wonder if you two were coming over or not. Must not want me around that badly.”

There was a beat of silence before Shiro was practically launching himself across the room, organic hand clasping Keith’s and threading their fingers together, eyes glistening as he moved to sit in the chair beside Keith’s bed. “No, baby, no. Of course we want you around. I’ll always want you here.”

Keith shot Matt a concerned look as he moved to the opposite side, taking Keith’s other hand and giving a gentle squeeze and nod of the head. “He’s right. Sorry we took a bit, we had a uh, thing, but we’re here now. Are you feeling alright?”

“I’m fine. Achy, I guess? Definitely itchy, but they say it’s probably just because I’m not used to the fur.” Ears twitched as Keith looked back towards Shiro, squeezing his hand in return. “We knew it was a risk, and I knew you wouldn’t stop until I was back home.” He leaned forward, moving until he could gently butt his forehead against Shiro’s. “ _As many times as it takes_. And I was right, wasn’t I?”

Shiro nodded, taking in a shaky breath. “Of course, it’s not even something to question. I would do whatever it takes to ensure your safety. I just wish we’d managed sooner.”

The three were quiet for several moments before Keith began tugging on both of their arms. “You got there, Shiro. You and Matt both. Now come here. I want both of my men up here with me. Please?”

Matt and Shiro locked eyes before nodding at one another. Kicking off their boots, they each carefully crawled into the bed on either side of Keith, Shiro laying on his right side, floating arm turned off and resting in the chair, with Matt on his left side. Their arms met over Keith’s middle as Keith’s arms rested beneath their heads, pulling them both close to him, careful not to let the wires attached to him get tangled.

A soft purr rumbled from the middle of Keith’s chest, startling all three men for a moment before breaking into laughter. Sinking into the bed, vaguely aware of the sounds of the Atlas and the machines monitoring Keith’s health, all three men fell into a gentle, welcome sleep, knowing they were right where they belonged.

**Author's Note:**

> I sincerely hope this was angsty enough for you. I kept trying and trying and trying and it seemed...not as angsty as it could've been, but I really hope you enjoy it!


End file.
